The show was held at the Wyndham Galleria hotel which proved to be a delight. Good looking place following a ten million dollar renovation. That's a lot of room letting to recoup that! Nice staff and restaurant - an all round very pleasant stay and all for a silly low deal price of $74 a night - incredible value.
We arrived in plenty of time for the 'kick-off'. The show began with a Preview evening on the Friday for two-day ticket holders. At 6.15pm we were eating our complimentary desserts (brownie to die for) and then looking around the wonderful exhibit room. There must have been something like fifty exhibits there each more inspiring than the one before. This is truly a show as well as a sale and would be worth the entry price alone just to see these pieces.
There was so much to see and do during the two-day event that I need to make a list rather than write about each thing, otherwise you will be stuck in my blog for ages:
- Exhibits open throughout the show and preview times
- Friday 6.15pm complimentary desserts and welcome to the show
- Friday morning classes
- Friday 7- 9pm two Sales rooms are open for preview ticket holders ($12 for two days)
- Sat 19th 10 - 12am Demonstration
- Saturday 10 - 4.30 pm two Sales rooms open for general public ($6)
- I counted over forty traders and most of those had more than one table
- a silent auction was held for lots of lovely pieces
- there were door prizes given throughout Saturday
- there was a 'work the room' give-away
- a raffle for several very nice houses and other pieces: the proceeds to charity
- a children's make and take table on Saturday
The vendors were all of a high standard with an eclectic mix on offer. It wouldn't be possible to leave the show empty-handed. I hope they all did well.
Sadly this was a show where two long-time and exceedingly important figures in the miniature world said their farewells.
Fred Cobbs has decided to retire from travelling to shows but will work on the occasional commission - and has three already in the pipeline.
I was personally even more sad to know that I wouldn't see David Krupick and his work at any more shows. He is having difficulty with his hand and is retiring after thirty-six years of creating true masterpieces. He is the most charming and erudite and gentle man and will be greatly missed by anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting him.
He reminded me that there is something like 3,600 or more of his pieces out there so there may still be a way to acquire a treasure in the future.
I saw a couple of old favourites, new favourites, a lot of new-to-me and in the flesh versions of people I had heard of so it was a really interesting show for me.
Picking a sample for each is difficult........
One old favourite would be Clara's Cuties. I wrote a profile piece on her maybe two years ago (?). She is an astonishing lady of some 83 years who is still making the tiniest most perfect flowers petal by petal.
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| Clara's tray of pick your own individual blooms |
A new favourite for me is Talley's Turnings where I bought these:
In the new-to-me category were
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| Gingerhouse Antiquities' Paper (!) dolls |
I am in love with these dolls and hope to write a profile on their creator - I am pretty sure the vendor said they were just $32.
Another new-to-me was Lynn McEntire's incredible work. The absolute tiniest of dolls beautifully wigged and dressed - crochet, knitting, sewing etc etc
She showed me a piece she had made for a lady who was collecting it from the show:
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| inside a very small (1930's?) lady's gold cigarette case |
As for 'in-the-flesh' I managed to meet Bradley Meinke whose name I knew from N.A.M.E. (National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts) and who I had seen working on their Facebook. Now here was the fruition of one of his pieces .......
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| such detail in the crazy quilt |
This year was the club's 36th Show and Sale and it was just astounding. I want to shout my thanks to the two show co-chairs, Linda Backelant and Margaret Jones and, of course, their zillion helpers for giving so many people so much joy. Remember all these ladies and gentlemen are simply members of a club and volunteer their time, energy and many more things to make all this happen for those of us lucky enough to be able to get to their show.
As a testament to their success they had to turn away vendors this year but (the lovely) Margaret promises an additional room next year so it will not only be as fantastic but bigger!!
As a footnote... if you are ever lucky enough to get to this show build in some time to go to the Botanical Gardens for another blow-you-away experience.
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Please take a look at the wonderful things on offer in my photo album for the show: Atlanta Show
To see what I bought at the show: Dalton House
To read an account of my trip to Atlanta and follow a link to the Botanical Garden photo album: My Clavering
There will be a published review of the show in Dolls House & Miniature Scene magazine at some time.
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